Georgian viticulturalists can now gain in-depth knowledge on winter and green pruning in vineyards by accessing online technical video courses. The video courses by Julio Prieto Diaz, FAO’s International Integrated Vineyard Management Expert, were dubbed in Georgian and are available on the web. The online learning platform was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) support under the IV phase of the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD IV) funded by the European Union and Sweden.  

From September to December 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Centre for Sociological Research “Zerkalo”, carried out a large-scale assessment in rural areas of Tajikistan to understand smallholder farmers’ interactions with information and communication technologies (ICT), including their awareness, attitudes, the use in farming, barriers to access, and perceptions of the benefits of the technologies.

The second ministerial meeting was held on 18 January in Berlin, Germany on the sidelines of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture 2025. Speakers included Cem Özdemir, German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Ludmila Catlabuga, Moldovan Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, as well as Raimund Jehle, FAO Regional Programme Leader and Representative in the Republic of Moldova.

The Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has launched Digital Technologies for Agriculture in Türkiye showcasing how AgTech solutions – from smart irrigation to traceability and e-commerce – are poised to enhance productivity and sustainability in Türkiye. The publication identifies the most promising AgTech solutions and assesses their current and potential uptake, along with barriers to adoption, and the supporting ecosystem. 

The One Health approach emphasizes the interconnected health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. By fostering collaboration across sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and environmental management, One Health aims to tackle complex global health challenges, such as emerging diseases, through integrated solutions. In a bid to enhance national capacities and bridge gaps between sectors, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), alongside the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), known as the Quadripartite, launched a Russian-language version of its One Health course. 

Although agriculture in Turkmenistan has a modest share of the gross domestic product (GDP), the sector holds strategic importance, as a significant portion of the population lives in rural areas and over 40 percent of the workforce is employed in agriculture. One of the gaps in the transformation process after 1991 is the lack of a modern crop monitoring system that provides reliable and timely crop information for informed decision-making, and thus contributes to sustainable land management and enhanced productivity in crop production. To address this need, collaboration has begun between Turkmenistan and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to introduce cutting-edge technology and skills in land use monitoring and remote sensing.

Nestled in the town of Berd, in the picturesque Tavush region of Armenia, a group of women are proving the power of sisterhood. Much like the beans they cultivate, these women are strong, and their bonds are deeply rooted.
Beans have long been a staple of rural life, symbolizing resilience in agricultural communities. 

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the lives and livelihoods of people living in rural areas could transform to be more sustainable through combining priorities and finding solutions that address needs in both the agriculture and tourism sectors. Recognizing the missed opportunities caused by this lack of an integrated, multistakeholder approach to rural development, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) initiated a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), with the aim of establishing local agricultural and rural development plans to advance sustainability.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way food is moved, sold, and bought in urban areas worldwide – creating some new trends and accelerating others. In Europe and Central Asia, the pandemic and geopolitical tensions disrupted supply chains, affecting food availability and prices in cities. Understanding how this new reality has reshaped the urban food distribution landscape is the subject of a joint report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and FAO’s Investment Centre, titled Building resilience in urban food logistics systems.

On 21 November 2024 in Syunik Marz, Armenia, high school students in Goris received training in tree planting and forest management. The activity was carried out by the local Forestry branch of Hayantar SNCO, the state organization for forest management in Armenia, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Armenia. The community awareness raising event was organized within the framework of the project “Sustainable Forest Management in Armenia,” implemented by the Ministry of Environment and FAO. The project is co-funded by a grant from the Green Climate Fund, FAO, the Austrian Development Agency, the World Wildlife Fund and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Italy. A significant amount of funding is provided by the Government of Armenia.